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February 17
Events *197 - Battle of Lugdunum - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats and kills his rival Clodius Albinus, securing full control over the Empire. *763 - Shi Chaoyi's head is delivered to Chang'an, ending the An Shi Rebellion. *1500 - Battle of Hemmingstedt. *1600 - Philosopher Giordano Bruno was burnt alive at Campo de' Fiori in Rome, charged of heresy. *1621 - Myles Standish is appointed as first commander of Plymouth colony. *1753 - February 17 is followed by March 1 as Sweden moves to the Gregorian from the Julian calendar. *1801 - An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by the United States House of Representatives. *1814 - Battle of Mormans. *1819 - The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise. *1854 - The British recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State. *1864 - American Civil War: ''H. L. Hunley'' becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the [[Wikipedia:USS Housatonic (1861)|USS Housatonic]]. *1865 - American Civil War: Columbia burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces. *1867 - The first ship passes through the Suez Canal. *1871 - The victorious Prussian Army parades though Paris after the end of the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. *1913 - The Armory Show opens in New York City, displaying works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century. *1924 - In Miami, Johnny Weissmuller sets a new world record in the 100-yard freestyle swimming competition with a time of 52-2/5 seconds. *1925 - Harold Ross and Jane Grant found The New Yorker magazine; the debut issue is dated February 21, 1925. *1933 - The magazine Newsweek is published for the first time. * 1933 - The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States. *1936 - The world's first superhero, The Phantom, makes his first appearance in comics. *1944 - World War II: Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ends in an American victory on February 22. * 1944 - World War II: Operation Hailstone begins. U.S. naval air, surface, and submarine attack against Truk (Chuuk), Japan's main base in the central Pacific, in support of the Eniwetok invasion. *1947 - The Voice of America begins to transmit radio broadcasts into the Soviet Union. *1957 - A fire at a home for the elderly in Warrenton, Missouri kills 72 people. *1958 - Pope Pius XII declares Saint Clare of Assisi (1193~1253) the patron saint of television. *1959 - Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2 - The first weather satellite launched to measure cloud-cover distribution. *1962 - A storm kills more than 300 people in Hamburg, West Germany. *1964 - In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population. *1968 - In Springfield the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens. *1972 - Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle model exceed those of Ford Model-T. *1974 - Robert K. Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House with a stolen helicopter. *1979 - The Sino-Vietnamese War begins. *1992 - A court in Milwaukee sentences serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to life in prison. *1995 - Colin Ferguson is convicted of six counts of murder for the December 1993 Long Island Rail Road shootings and later receives a 200+ year sentence. * 1995 - The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ends on a cease-fire brokered by the UN. *1996 - In Philadelphia, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match. *2000 - Microsoft releases Windows 2000 *2003 - The London Congestion Charge scheme begins. *2006 - Over 1,000 people perished and buried alive in the town of St. Bernard in Southern Leyte. *2009 - Analog television broadcasts are scheduled to end in the United States, as the Federal Communications Commission will require all stations to send their signals digitally. Births *1490 - Charles III, Constable of France (d. 1527) *1519 - Francis, French soldier and politician (d. 1563) *1524 - Charles of Guise, French cardinal (d. 1574) *1581 - Fausto Poli, Italian Catholic priest (d. 1653) *1646 - Pierre Le Pesant, French economist (d. 1714) *1653 - Arcangelo Corelli, Italian composer (d. 1713) *1718 - Matthew Tilghman, American Continental Congressman (d. 1790) *1723 - Tobias Mayer, German astronomer (d. 1762) *1752 - Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German writer (d. 1831) *1754 - Nicolas Baudin, French explorer (d. 1803) *1766 - Thomas Malthus, English demographer and economist (d. 1834) *1781 - René Laënnec, French physician (d. 1826) *1792 - Karl Ernst von Baer, German biologist (d. 1876) *1796 - Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician (d. 1866) *1818 - Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist (d. 1895) *1820 - Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian composer (d. 1881) * 1820 - Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau, Catholic cardinal (d. 1898) *1821 - Lola Montez, Mexican dancer (d. 1861) *1836 - Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish poet (d. 1870) *1844 - Aaron Montgomery Ward, American department store founder (d. 1913) *1848 - Louisa Lawson, Australian suffragist and writer (d. 1920) *1854 - Friedrich Alfred Krupp, German industrialist (d. 1902) *1861 - Princess Helena (d. 1922) *1863 - Fyodor Sologub, Russian symbolist novelist and poet (d. 1927) *1864 - Banjo Paterson, Australian poet (d. 1941) * 1864 - Jozef Murgaš, Slovak inventor (d. 1929) *1874 - Thomas J. Watson, American computer manufacturer (d. 1956) *1877 - Isabelle Eberhardt, Swiss explorer and writer (d. 1904) * 1877 - André Maginot, French politician (d. 1932) *1885 - Steve Evans, American baseball player (d. 1943) *1887 - Leevi Madetoja, Finnish composer (d. 1947) *1888 - Otto Stern, German physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1969) *1908 - Red Barber, American baseball announcer (d. 1992) * 1908 - Bo Yibo, Chinese politician (d. 2005) *1910 - Marc Lawrence, American actor (d. 2005) * 1910 - Arthur Hunnicutt, American actor (d. 1979) *1911 - Oskar Seidlin, Silesian-born American literary scholar (d. 1984) *1912 - Andre Norton, American author (d. 2005) *1914 - Arthur Kennedy, American actor (d. 1990) * 1914 - Wayne Morris, American actor (d. 1959) *1916 - Raf Vallone, Italian actor (d. 2002) *1917 - Abdur Rahman Badawi, Egyptian philosopher (d. 2002) * 1917 - Guillermo González Camarena, Mexican inventor (d. 1965) *1919 - Kathleen Freeman, American actress (d. 2001) *1920 - Ivo Caprino, Norwegian animated film director *1922 - Enrico Banducci, American nightclub owner (d. 2007) * 1922 - Tommy Edwards, American singer (d. 1969) * 1922 - Marshall Teague, American race car driver (d. 1959) *1924 - Margaret Truman, American novelist *1925 - Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor (d. 2003) * 1925 - Hal Holbrook, American actor *1928 - Marta Romero, Puerto Rican actress & singer *1929 - Chaim Potok, American author (d. 2002) * 1929 - Patricia Routledge, English actress *1930 - Ruth Rendell, English writer * 1930 - Roger Craig, American baseball player and manager *1932 - Buck Trent, American banjo player *1933 - Bobby Lewis, American singer * 1933 - Craig L. Thomas, American politician (d. 2007) *1934 - Alan Bates, English actor (d. 2003) * 1934 - Barry Humphries, Australian actor and comedian *1935 - Christina Pickles, British actress *1936 - Jim Brown, American football player *1939 - John Leyton, British singer * 1939 - Mary Ann Mobley, American actress and beauty queen *1940 - Gene Pitney, American singer (d. 2006) *1942 - Huey P. Newton, American political activist (d. 1989) *1944 - Karl Jenkins, Welsh composer *1945 - Zina Bethune, American actress * 1945 - Brenda Fricker, Irish actress *1948 - Rick Majerus, American basketball coach * 1948 - José José, Mexican singer and actor *1949 - Fred Frith, English musician and composer *1952 - Karin Janz, East German gymnast *1953 - Janice Dickinson, American model * 1953 - Norman Pace, British actor and comic *1954 - Rene Russo, American actress *1955 - Mo Yan, Chinese novelist *1956 - Richard Karn, American actor *1957 - Loreena McKennitt, Canadian musician *1959 - Aryeh Deri, Israeli rabbi and politician * 1959 - Neil Lomax, American football player *1962 - Samuel Bayer, American music video director * 1962 - Alison Hargreaves, British mountaineer (d. 1995) * 1962 - Tyrone "Ty" Jones, American screenwriter * 1962 - David McComb, Australian musician (The Triffids) (d. 1999) * 1962 - Lou Diamond Phillips, American actor *1963 - Michael Jordan, American basketball player * 1963 - Larry the Cable Guy, American comedian *1964 - Buster Olney, American sports columnist *1965 - Michael Bay, American film director *1966 - Luc Robitaille, Canadian ice hockey player * 1966 - Quorthon, Swedish musician (Bathory) (d. 2004) * 1966 - Ioannis Kalitzakis, Greek footballer *1967 - Chanté Moore, American singer *1969 - Tuesday Knight, American actress *1970 - Dominic Purcell, English-born actor * 1970 - Tim Mahoney, American musician (311) *1971 - Martyn Bennett, Canadian composer (d. 2005) * 1971 - Denise Richards, American actress * 1971 - Jeremy Edwards, British actor *1972 - Billie Joe Armstrong, American musician (Green Day) * 1972 - Taylor Hawkins, American musician (Foo Fighters) * 1972 - Philippe Candeloro, French figure skater * 1972 - Valeria Mazza, Argentinian model *1974 - Kaoru, Japanese musician * 1974 - Jerry O'Connell, American actor * 1974 - Bryan White, American singer *1975 - Wish Bone, American rapper * 1975 - Harisu, South Korean singer, model and actress * 1975 - Todd Harvey, Canadian ice hockey player * 1975 - Vaclav Prospal, Czech ice hockey player *1976 - Kelly Carlson, American actress * 1976 - Scott Williamson, American baseball player *1978 - Jacob Wetterling, American kidnapping victim *1979 - Josh Willingham, American baseball player *1980 - Jason Ritter, American actor * 1980 - Al Harrington, American basketball player *1981 - Joseph Gordon-Levitt, American actor * 1981 - Paris Hilton, American actress and heiress * 1981 - Lupe Fiasco, American rapper *1982 - Adriano, Brazilian footballer * 1982 - Brian Bruney, American baseball player *1983 - Gérald Cid, French footballer * 1983 - Marios Kaperonis, Greek boxer *1984 - Kenta Kamakari, Japanese actor and seiyuu * 1984 - AB de Villiers, South African cricketer * 1984 - Jimmy Jacobs, American professional wrestler *1986 - Joey O'Brien, Irish footballer *1991 - Bonnie Wright, British actress *1996 - Sasha Pieterse, South African child actress Deaths * 197 - Clodius Albinus, Roman usurper (killed in battle) * 364 - Jovian, Roman Emperor * 440 - Mesrop Mashtots *1339 - Otto (b. 1301) *1371 - Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria *1596 - Friedrich Sylburg, German classical scholar (b. 1536) *1600 - Giordano Bruno, Italian philosopher (burned at the stake) (b. 1548) *1609 - Ferdinando I de' Medici (b. 1549) *1624 - Juan de Mariana, Spanish historian (b. 1536) *1659 - Abel Servien, French diplomat (b. 1593) *1673 - Molière, French playwright (b. 1622) *1680 - Denzil Holles, English statesman and writer (b. 1599) * 1680 - Jan Swammerdam, Dutch scientist (b. 1637) *1715 - Antoine Galland, French archaeologist (b. 1646) *1732 - Louis Marchand, French organist and harpsichordist (b. 1669) *1768 - Arthur Onslow, English politician (b. 1691) *1780 - Andreas Felix von Oefele, German historian and librarian (b. 1706) *1841 - Ferdinando Carulli, Italian guitarist (b. 1770) *1854 - John Martin, English painter (b. 1789) *1856 - Heinrich Heine, German writer (b. 1797) *1874 - Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, Belgian mathematician (b. 1796) *1883 - Napoleon Coste, French guitarist and composer (b. 1806) * 1883 - Vasudeo Balwant Phadke, Indian revolutionary (b. 1845) *1890 - Christopher Sholes, American inventor (b. 1819) *1909 - Geronimo, Apache leader (b. 1829) *1912 - Edgar Evans, Welsh naval officer (b. 1876) *1919 - Wilfrid Laurier, 7th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1841) *1934 - King Albert I of Belgium (b. 1875) * 1934 - Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player (b. 1862) *1939 - Willy Hess, German violinist (b. 1859) *1943 - Armand J. Piron, American jazz violinist and composer (b. 1888) * 1943 - Konstantin Bogaevsky, Russian painter (b. 1872) *1958 - Hugh McCrae, Australian writer (b. 1876) *1961 - Nita Naldi, American actress (b. 1894) *1962 - Bruno Walter, German conductor (b. 1876) *1970 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israeli writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1888) * 1970 - Alfred Newman, American film composer (b. 1901) *1977 - Janani Luwum, Ugandan Archbishop (b. 1922) *1982 - Nestor Chylak, American baseball umpire (b. 1922) * 1982 - Thelonious Monk, American jazz pianist (b. 1917) * 1982 - Lee Strasberg, Austrian-born actor (b. 1901) *1989 - Lefty Gomez, American baseball player (b. 1908) *1990 - Erik Rhodes, American actor (b. 1906) * 1990 - Hap Day, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (b. 1901) *1994 - Randy Shilts, American author and activist (b. 1951) *1996 - Hervé Bazin, French writer (b. 1911) *1997 - Zein Isa, Palestinian militant imprisoned in the United States for the honor killing of his daughter *1998 - Ernst Jünger, German author (b. 1895) * 1998 - Bob Merrill, American composer and lyricist (b. 1921) *2001 - Khalid Abdul Muhammed, American Nation of Islam spokesman (b. 1948) * 2001 - Bob Geary, Canadian football player and manager (b. 1933) *2004 - José López Portillo, President of Mexico (b. 1920) *2005 - Dan O'Herlihy, Irish actor (b. 1919) * 2005 - Omar Sivori, Argentine footballer (b. 1935) *2006 - Ray Barretto, Puerto Rican musician (b. 1929) * 2006 - Harold Hunter, American professional skateboarder (b. 1974) * 2006 - Bill Cowsill, American singer (The Cowsills) (b. 1948) *2007 - Jurga Ivanauskaitė, Lithuanian writer (b. 1961) * 2007 - Mike Awesome, American professional wrestler (b. 1965) * 2007 - Dermot O'Reilly, Irish-born Canadian musician, producer and songwriter (b. 1943) * 2007 - Maurice Papon, French Nazi collaborator (b. 1910) Holidays and observances *Roman Empire - Quirinalia in honor of Quirinus. *Ancient Latvia - Tanis Diena observed. *Random Acts of Kindness Day. Liturgical feasts *Seven Founders of the Servite Order *Saint Alexis Falconieri (d. 1310) *Saint Constabilis *Saint Evermodus *Saint Silvinus * February 17 External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- Category:February